Anybody who knows me knows what a huge Barry Manilow fan I am. So a kind friend sent me a link to an article about how Barry's Malibu beach house is up for sale for $7,991,928 dollars, down from $12.6 million. I know, times are what they are.

There were a ton of photos so I totally got to play lookie-loo. Here is his house.

Barry slept here?

Or maybe here?

Did Barry pee here?

Or maybe here?

I don't know though, there were no pictures of pianos anywhere. You'd think Barry's house would have a piano somewhere. That is why I'm doubting whether this is actually Barry's old house...

Been quite busy at work but finally finished up a ton of projects Friday. On Saturday took a well-deserved (IMHO) break and had dinner at Le Grande Orange in Old Town Pasadena. Used to be an old train station depot. I don't know why it is called Le Grande Orange.

Anyway, I used to think of it as an alternative to Houstons when the wait was too long. However it is now pretty popular as we went on a saturday night and ended up waiting 30 minutes WITH a reservation.

Started out with some Sangria. Yummy, sweet, and stronger than I thought as I didn't even really taste the alcohol but was a bit on the tipsy side the rest of the evening.

Main course - short rib tacos. The waiter pretty much said they were the best thing on the menu. He was right.

Dessert was Key Lime Pie. Also the best dessert on the menu. The waiter did not steer us wrong.

I need to go back - just for the Key Lime Pie. Don't miss out on this if you go.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

So as previously mentioned, finished off the novel I have been working on. I have at the same time, recognized that my writer's group has started to focus on my plot more than my writing style. I thank them for their advice because I can see the vast improvement from before and after but I think I've graduated to needing "professional help" at this point.

So I enrolled today in a 6 week writing seminar focusing on YA fiction writing. At the very least, I should learn if I've got the right format. (The ladies in my writers group are all writing mysteries.)

I haven't been in the classroom in a long time. Wondering if people still bring paper and pencil or does everybody just bring their laptop/ipad?

Saturday, January 15, 2011

So at 1:15 or so this morning, I finished my story/book/novel and sent it off. That is why I haven't been posting. Trying to keep my resolution (see previous post).

Do you remember that scene from "Romancing the Stone" in the very beginning, where Kathleen Turner's character, a romance novelist, finishes her latest novel? She is so moved by the ending she starts crying, and then searches her apartment for a tissue, toilet paper, paper towel, post-it note, anything to wipe her nose with?

Well, that is me too, when it comes to housekeeping. Kinda fell to the wayside these last few weeks... months.

There is this thing growing in my fridge. I think it used to be an apple at some point. Anyway, I strapped on some rubber gloves, and tackled it today. It was glued to the vegetable drawer of the fridge. It was green and grey and soft and squishy. Eww!!! But it is gone now.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Here is a photo of the New Year's Ozoni soup that brother-in-law made for my sister and me.

So cute, he cut little star patterns into the shiitake mushrooms.

And here is Italian Torrone nougat I finally found at Bristol Farms. The blue one had almonds in it. It was so hard I had to use a hammer to break apart the pieces. I don't think it was supposed to be that way. Probably just old.

The orange one had orange flavor to it. It was so soft, it was practically soup.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Was trying desperately to finish my novel before the 31st. Didn't happen. I tried again today. Not going to happen. So close. Maybe another 15 pages. Thought I could just copy and paste from a previous draft but I changed too much of it for that to work.

This year (2011) I will work to get it edited one last time. Then I'm moving on. Maybe try writing a sci-fi or paranormal fantasy - something with vampires or fallen angels or something.

Oh and keep going with the blog...

Go to the gym

Often times, this one conflicts with the first resolution. A lot of time is wasted on weekend deciding which one is more important. This year I will trade off. Every other day.